Portugal have finally been able to win their first ever major international title, as Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. lifted the Euro 2016 trophy after defeating France 1-0 in extra time.
However, this time around, the Portuguese had to do it without their star captain who was stretchered off in the first half after sustaining an injury. France on the other hand, failed to make many inroads into the game, as the Portuguese defence sat tight around their penalty area, thwarting most of the attacks from the hosts.
With this win, Portugal have now entered the elite bracket of national sides that have won an international title. On that note, we at TheHardTackle analyse who played well and who flopped in the 2016 European Championships final.
Portugal
Rui Patricio: 9
The Portuguese couldn’t have made it without him. The Sporting Lisbon custodian made seven crucial saves during the match to keep the French out.
Raphael Guerreiro: 7.5
Guerreiro was solid at left back throughout the match, making three tackles and maintaining a pass accuracy of 86 per cent. He also managed to hit the crossbar with a close-range free kick in extra time.
Jose Fonte: 7
Fonte has been a revelation for Portugal ever since coach Fernando Santos made him a starting XI regular in the round of 16 stage. He continued his good performances with yet another clean sheet.
Pepe: 7.5
Pepe was absolutely dominant inside his box, not allowing either Giroud or Gignac to settle down.
Cedric Soares: 8
Soares was absolutely brilliant on the night as he completely neutralised the threat posed by Dimitri Payet. He also put in five crucial tackles to help his team’s cause.
William Carvalho: 7.5
Carvalho was instrumental in the way Portugal played in the match. Not only did he help to break-up the swift French counter attacks but he also exhibited great passing abilities, with a pass accuracy rate of 92 per cent.
Joao Mario: 6.5
Joao Mario was not as effective as he was in the previous matches, but that might have been due to the fact that he had to constantly deal with the threat that Moussa Sissoko posed.
Adrien Silva: 6
Silva remained aloof for most parts of the game, failing to dictate the play during the game. He was also caught out trying to do too much on the ball and was dispossessed four times during the match.
Renato Sanches: 6.5
Sanches was Portugal’s most potent player going forward in the first half, but that was nowhere near to being enough to affect the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 5
To be fair to the Portugal captain, he could play only 25 minutes, as he was stretchered off after a heavy tackle from Payet. He failed to make any impact on the game in those 25 minutes, and had a shambolic pass accuracy rate of 67 per cent. However, he did inspire his team in extra time, bellowing orders at them from the touch line.
Nani: 7
Nani made a few good runs to get into decent positions during the match, but could not keep any of his shots on target.
Substitutes
Eder: 7
Eder got only around 40 minutes (including extra time) to put Portugal in the lead and did just that, as he smashed his shot into the goal from outside the box, on the 109th minute.
Ricardo Quaresma: 6
Quaresma has been a super-sub for Portugal in the past, but was largely ineffective after coming on for the injured Ronaldo.
Joao Moutinho: 7
Moutinho delivered a decent performance, taking control of the Portuguese midfield along with William Carvalho. He had a pass accuracy of 85 per cent.
France
Hugo Lloris: 6.5
Lloris didn’t have much to do for most of the game as France hogged possession of the ball, but made a couple of crucial saves to keep the scores 0-0 in regulation time.
Patrice Evra: 6.5
Evra did well to deal with the attacking threat posed by Renato Sanches. The former Manchester United man was also dominant in the air.
Samuel Umtiti: 8
Umtiti had an amazing match for Les Bleus on Sunday, as he set out to dominate the Portugal attackers, both on the air and on the ground. He was an integral part of France’s buildup play. In fact, Umtiti played the most number of passes (114) during the game and notched up an incredible pass-accuracy rate of 93 per cent. It was a pity that he ended up in the losing side.
Laurent Koscielny: 7
Koscielny was also instrumental alongside Umtiti in defence and the French side did not concede any goals in regulation time.
Bacary Sagna: 6
Sagna made a number of forward runs during the game. However, most of these runs were rendered useless, as he had to play the ball back to a midfielder after being pressed by the opposition.
Blaise Matuidi: 7
Matuidi did all the dirty work in the middle of the park against France. He made as many as six crucial tackles to break-up the Portuguese counter attacks.
Paul Pogba: 6.5
Pogba played a bit deeper than usual, which is probably why he failed to take control of the game. However, he put in a good defensive shift, making four crucial tackles during the game.
Dimitri Payet: 6.5
Payet tried to weave his way around the Portugal defence a few too many times but was marked well by Cedric Soares.
Moussa Sissoko: 7.5
Sissoko had a very good game as he worked hard in both attack and defence. He made a number of lung-bursting runs up the pitch, to drive the French side forward. He completed as many as seven successful dribbles during the game.
Antoine Griezmann: 7
Griezmann was lively throughout the game and looked to make clever runs off Giroud or Gignac’s shoulders. He even managed to trouble Portugal keeper Rui Patricio a couple of times with his efforts.
Olivier Giroud: 6
Giroud failed to be a physical presence for France up front, as he was completely dominated in the air by Pepe and Fonte.
Substitutes
Anthony Martial: 5.5
Martial probably should have been brought on earlier by Deschamps but the Manchester United forward got only the last 10 minutes of extra time.
Andre-Pierre Gignac: 5
Gignac failed to make any impact on the game, except for one stretch of play, late in injury time of the second half, when he hit the post. He could have won France their second European title had he scored from that opportunity.
Kingsley Coman: 5.5
Kingsley Coman looked lively during the game but failed to have any positive influence for France. In hindsight, Payet was arguably more effective than Coman.
